Resources4Learning.org : Key Stage 3

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Welcome to Key Stage 3 Computer Science

Website Design

This is an introduction to Web site design through writing code.  Pupils learn to write in HTML [HyperText Mark-up Language - the code behind all Web pages] and will get to add some elements of JavaScript later.

Please note: The "size" and complexity of the lessons vary enormously.  Some of the lessons are quite long and complex, whereas others are sorter.  You may well find with some lessons you can fit two into a learning session, whilst others might need a "second visit".

Lesson 1

Web Site Design 01 deals mainly with how we are going to edit and save our files, and gets a very first few words into a Web browser.

Lesson 2

Web Site Design 02 starts to look at how we get text into a Web site, and a bit about what HTML can (and mostly cannot!) do without being given instructions.

Lesson 3

Web Site Design 03 starts to look at ways we can format text, and start to make the text look more meaningful.

Lesson 4

Web Site Design 04 teaches you how to put in links to other Web pages and add some pictures to your text.  Your pages will start to look a bit more interesting, and we deal with things like getting pictures in the right place on the page to look more professional.

Lesson 5

By the time we get to Web Site Design 05 we're really starting to jazz-up our page a bit.  Colour to the background, coloured text, and seeing how we can tell HTML to use different fonts,  Quite a lot in this lesson, but it's cool, cool, cool.

Lesson 6

In Web Site Design 06 we learn about things called blockquotes.  These things help us to make the layout of our pages even easier for the reader to understand.  This is a fairly short lesson (the handout is only one page!) - you might find you can do Lesson 6 and Lesson 7 in one session - but don't rush it - it's always better to make sure you understand each step before moving on.

Lesson 7

Web Site Design 07 Lists!  Ordered and Unordered Lists - but never disorderly lists.  With your imagination, these should add some new ideas for your web page.

Lesson 8

Web Site Design 08 Tables!  Tables can really keep your creative spirit going, whether you're showing off your artwork and photos, or you want to make the local football league results look tidy and professional.  Another really useful addition to your HTML toolbox.

Gentle warning Lesson 9 gets a bit more technically challenging

Lesson 9

Web Site Design 09 is a biggie - you'll need some time, and a clear mind to get through this one.  One of the biggest things added to HTML, just a few years after Tim Berners-Lee first invented it, was the introduction of Cascading Style Sheets or CSS.  Like I just said, this lesson is a big one, but get a hold on this, and you're becoming a seriously proficient Webmaster.  You may need to take a break partway through this one.  Have fun.

Lesson 10

Hope you got through Web site Design 09 ok.  Web Site Design 10 gives you another example of how to use Cascading Style Sheets, and introduces you to multiple pages on your site.  Get that far, and you'll suddenly see how amazingly powerful Cascading Style Sheets can be.  Enjoy!

Lesson 11

Menus!  "OK," I hear you say "It's all very nice being able to write pages in the same style with our new Cascading Style Sheets, but how do I get a menu in there, so my reader can easily click between the pages?"  Web Site Design 11 looks at putting a menu bar onto your Web site, to allow your reader to navigate between the pages, like the menu bar at the top of this site.

Gentle warning Lesson 12 gets a bit more technically challenging, but is not critical to the lessons after it.

Leson 12

Web Site Design 12 looks at something just a bit more fancy: drop-down menus.  Showing-off the way we can use some of the opportunities we get using cascading style sheet elements.

Lesson 13

In Web Site Design 13 We take the pressure off a bit, and look at how to use some special characters in our Web sites.  Prepare for some fun!

Lesson 14

Web Site Design 14 takes a look at mailto: links, and how we can put a direct, single-click mechanism in our Web site for readers to email us.  A short session, but a useful one !

Another gentle warning: Lesson 15 is a mega biggie.  It introduces another major new concept: programming in JavaScript.

Lesson 15

Web Site Design 15 looks at ways to "hide" the address in that mailto: link we created at in the last lesson, so it won't be found by spambots.  HTML alone is not powerful enough to do this, so we need to go beyond a mark-up language, and use a programming (or scripting) language: JavaScript.

... still more to follow ...

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The History of Computing

Here's an introduction to the history of electronic computing, going right back to Alan Turing, Bletchley Park and the Colossus computer.  Check it out!  History of Computing.

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Scratching around...

Introduction to coding in Scratch (with Maths!)

The team at UCL ScratchMaths have put together a superb combination of maths ideas and an introduction to coding.  Aimed at pupils in Years 5 and 6, it's also a great intro for Year 7 pupils who haven't explored coding in Scratch before.  Highly recommended!

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Coding projects with interactive hardware

This is the section some of you have been waiting for - it will grow soon, now it's started!

The Pimoroni site has some excellent ideas for programming and projects using the BBC micro:bit and Raspberry Pi computers.  Take a look there - and come back here soon - we have some micro:bit and Raspberry Pi projects and ideas in the pipeline!

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W3schools - an excellent programming site

W3Schools is an excellent learning site, with clear explanations of every command and function in many mark-up, scripting, coding and query languages.

Each language is covered command-by-command, most with "try it yourself" examples.  HTML and CSS, JavaScript, Python are all covered very thoroughly.

For the really adventurous student, this site also covers SQL (the main database query language), PHP, Java and C++.  With piles of great examples and exercises, this is one of our favourite sites to refer our learners to.  check it out now (you'd be foolish not to!).

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eSafety

The Internet and World Wide web can be wonderful tools for learning and communication - indeed, they have changed our lives in the last 25 years (writing as someone who is older than that!).  But, like many things that have changed our lives for the better, the Web also has a darker and dirtier side.  It is vital that you stay safe out there surfing the Web.  BBC Bitesize KS3 has some excellent materials:

BBC Bitesize KS3 eSaftey

Check it out right here!

... and you may also like to take a look here - then you should really know your stuff and be safe out there!

"SWGfL are a not for profit charity ensuring everyone can benefit from technology free from harm.  Forming 1/3 of the UK Safer Internet Centre, our experts advise schools, public bodies and industry on appropriate actions to take in regards to safeguarding and advancing positive online safety policies."

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Our friends at GCSE Revision Monkey have some excellent resources for Sciences.

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Stay tuned and keep coming back - there will be more in this section soon.